Nonpartisan Chart Reveals Who’s More Trusting of Major News Sources: Liberals or Conservatives?

A recently released chart, based on web survey data gathered by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, reveals which major news sources we trust, broken down by liberal and conservative ideologies.

Of note were the publications lying at the two extremes:

At the top, The Economist was nearly universally trusted along the ideological spectrum (except among the staunchest conservatives– who trusted the newspaper as much as they distrusted it).

On the other hand, Buzzfeed earned more feelings of distrust than trust across the board– from those identifying as “consistently liberal,” all the way to individuals who identified as “consistently conservative.”

What does the chart tell us?

Well, for one — at least as it pertains to the major news outlets included (and it seems like a pretty fair and comprehensive list) — liberals are far more trusting of news sources.

Of the 36 media outlets included, those who identify as “consistently conservative” are more trusting than distrusting of only 8 of them. Those individuals who identify as “mostly conservative” trust more than distrust only 12 of the 36 news sources in the chart.

Contrast this with respondents who consider themselves “consistently liberal.” They trust more than distrust 28 of the 36 sources. Those who identify as “mostly liberal” are more trusting than distrusting of 24 out of 36 media outlets included in the Pew survey.

This chart seems to confirm common narratives expounded on both sides of the ideological spectrum:

Liberals often paint conservatives as paranoid and overly distrustful, while conservatives consistently find their liberal counterparts excessively naive and lacking in a healthy dose of skepticism.

So do you see this as a condemnation of liberal naiveté, or evidence that conservatives should lay off the cynicism?